When you have a project at hand but don’t have a lot of money, you need to be inventive. For example, a 3D scanner can be quite expensive, but Wired reports one young engineer figured out how to build a budget one using a webcam and a laser. The budget scanner can be used in conjunction with a 3D printer, such as the MakerBot, to allow for solid objects to be created in the home.

The first model of the budget 3D scanner was created by Andy Barry at the beginning of his senior year at Olin College of Engineering. Barry now works as a research engineer in the AutoDesk Innovations Lab at the NASA Ames Research Lab. His budget 3D scanner works by sweeping a red laser beam across any object in front of a webcam. The laser provides information about the depth of a point being scanned as the beam shifts to the side of the object. The computer uses this information to determine how thick the object is.

Barry hopes to offer his scanner through the MakerBot store for around $200.